In a show of unity and a flexing of the region’s political and economic might, 75 Silicon Valley CEOs have signed a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig urging the timely approval of moving the Oakland A’s to San Jose.

The two-page letter, which was assembled by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, carries the signatures of well-known valley chief executives including Cisco Systems’ John Chambers, Yahoo’s Carol Bartz, eBay’s John Donahoe and SunPower’s Tom Werner, as well as venture capitalist John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

It is the latest and perhaps most impressive appeal to Selig from a range of avid supporters including the city of San Jose, a local pro-baseball grass-roots group and ordinary citizens, all pushing Selig to give the nod to San Jose. The letter drives home the point that Silicon Valley can deliver a level of corporate support to baseball that no other city in the Bay Area can match. It notes that the more than 300 member companies in the leadership group employ more than 250,000 local workers and generate more than $2 trillion in global revenue.

“I don’t know that he’s seen our roster of corporate folks here, and it’s always good to remind him of the corporate support we have out here,” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said of the letter.

The text of the letter says:

“We, the undersigned CEOs and senior executives, are committed to bringing jobs, revenue, a rich culture, and a thriving business climate to Silicon Valley. We believe that an intimate state of the art ballpark located on a prime downtown San Jose parcel, close to mass transit and major highways will be a catalyst for economic development in our region. We also believe downtown San Jose offers a compelling location for the advancement of Major League Baseball in the 21st Century.”

Hurdles remain

Despite this list of powerful backers, the effort to bring a ballpark to downtown San Jose faces complications. A special committee appointed by Selig has been studying whether the A’s can relocate to the South Bay — long-deemed the San Francisco Giants’ turf — and that process has been dragging on for more than a year.

Selig, a fraternity brother of A’s owner Lew Wolff, is awaiting a final report from the committee, which also will help baseball’s 30 team owners decide whether the team can move to San Jose.

An MLB spokesman on Wednesday declined to comment on the letter, as did a spokeswoman from the San Francisco Giants. Corey Busch, a member of the special committee, also had no comment.

Leadership group President and CEO Carl Guardino and others said they can only hope for the best.

“We thought the CEOs of Silicon Valley ought to reach out to Commissioner Selig so he clearly understands — in a respectful way — that we think the Bay Area should remain a market for two Major League Baseball teams,” said Guardino, referring to San Jose and San Francisco.

Corporate support

The letter is the second effort by the leadership group to make its case for the A’s to move to America’s 10th-largest city. Last year, the group released a survey of 121 leading valley technology companies in which 70 percent agreed that San Jose should be home to an MLB team. Almost as many of the respondents that currently sponsor, advertise or purchase game ticket packages said they would support both the Giants and the San Jose A’s.

The new letter repeats that theme, saying “We strongly believe that both teams will thrive in a vibrant two team market anchored by San Francisco and the Bay Area’s largest city, San Jose.”

“It shows again a lot of support for baseball in Silicon Valley and San Jose,” Wolff said about the letter.

“It also speaks favorably about the Giants, too, and we are looking to have a fun but competitive relationship with two nice venues. The Giants have theirs and we’d like to have ours.”

Guardino said the letter was not a response to renewed efforts by Oakland boosters to keep the team there. Recently, 35 East Bay companies raised at least $500,000 to spend on sponsorships and luxury suites if the A’s commit to a new park in town.

Doug Boxer, head of the civic group Let’s Go Oakland, which is aimed at keeping the team in town, said the letter “has no impact on Oakland’s efforts, and our civic and corporate community remains committed to keeping the A’s in Oakland in a new, baseball-only park.”